NPower gas 'sculpting'

DirectDebacle

Thank you for the kind remarks Taffy. I have signed up with Atlantic (part of Scottish and Southern). I won't save money but they have about the best reputation for customer service. I have gone on their plan with no high units but pay a daily standing charge of 14.03p incl VAT and a flat rate for units at 2.62p incl VAT per unit. I will continue to pay quarterly. I avoid direct ebits whenever possible even if a discount is offered. I remember you said you were a low user of gas so this plan would not suit you. Another plan they do is you pay 1143 high rate units per quarter. If in any quarter you use less than the 1143, they only charge for what you use. Any you don't use 'die' and the next quarter you start a new block of 1143 and no more. As a low user this may suit you. If you use no gas in the two 'summer' quarters for example the most high rate units you could pay in a year is 2286. Usual offers if you have dual fuel with them there is a discount. I checked out most of the majors and some subsiduaries. Bottom line price wise there is not a lot of difference between them. Atlantic were the last to increase their prices which was April 1st so am hoping they will be the last again or the first to lower them if prices drop. As you are a low user a higher proportion of high rate units will be charged on your bill so I would look for the supplier that has the lowest high rate prices and then start doing the maths on what you think your low rate units (if any) will cost. Take your time. We are in the low rate period with npower now (unless they changed it again) so between now and end of October I doubt if any supplier will be cheaper than npower. Atlantic told me it takes about 6 weeks to switch so if you start the switching not later than say the middle of August you shouldn't be with npower by the time the high 'sculpting' kicks in. I cannot recommend any particular supplier I am just telling you why I chose Atlantic. I would draw your attention and everybody elses about that convoluted and nigh on impossible to comply with clause in npowers terms and conditions. It refers to ending your contract with them and switching. I copy and pasted here:

'We may change the terms under which we supply gas or electricity at any time. If the changes put you in a worse position, we will tell you about them within 65 Working Days. If you do not accept the changes, you may end this agreement by changing supplier. The changes will not apply to you if within 10 Working Days of being told about the changes, you tell us that you are ending the agreement, and within the next 15 Working Days we receive notice through industry processes that another supplier will begin to supply your home within a reasonable period of time'.
Read and understand all their switching policies in the T&C. There is a lot more than I quoted above.

I expect my transfer will not be easy and npower will object. Because I am in dispute with them they will undoubtedly object to the transfer and claim I owe them money. Unsurprisingly they have a record of regularly doing this.

DirectDebacle

As it is a Bank Holiday I thought this thread might like a little light relief.

Npower FAQ
1. What is sculpting.
You mean ‘seasonally adjusted weighting’. This is the method we use to ensure that each customer is charged so it more accurately reflects the amount customers ‘use during different times of the year.

2. How do I tell if my bill is sculpted
You can tell if your bill is seasonally adjusted because you won’t be able to understand it. The way we work it out is far too complicated for the average customer to understand. No need to worry, our ‘best in class’ billing system will take care of it for you so you can get on with the more important things in life.

3. I am an OAP on a fixed income. I use little or no gas in the summer. Will sculpting mean I pay more.
Not at all. You will not be charged for more gas that you haven’t used than you were before. This means that the gas you didn’t use in the summer won’t be added to the gas you used in the winter except for the price you would have paid for it had you used it (we always estimate unused gas). This is good news. At the most you will only pay for 4572 high rate units in a year or the whole of your winter fuel allowance, whichever is the lesser. (See Definitions in T&Cs for the meaning of ‘lesser’,’4572’ and ‘year’)

4. It seems I have been charged for more than the 4572 units over the past year.
You have, but this is normal with seasonally adjusted weighting. We regularly adjust the ‘weighting’. You could check the dates that this occurred. Often customers use dates of the year that our sophisticated system does not recognise and this is where most problems arise.

5. I have checked the switching sites and npower nearly always come out as the best. Does sculpting influence the price comparisons.
No, it makes no difference. All gas suppliers charge at different rates and some will charge you as much as 381 expensive units a month, every month for up to 12 consecutive months and then start it all over again! To ensure we remain competitive and excellent value our seasonal weighting doesn’t do that, so our charges come out differently. That is one of the reasons why we nearly always come out as the best.

6. When I was signing up with you over the phone the rep never mentioned sculpting. Should I have been told about it.
This was answered in question 2.

7. Sculpting was explained to me but I don’t understand it.
Thank you for the praise. It is always good to hear that our customer service team is doing an excellent job.

8. I have just switched to you and my direct debit is almost double what I was told it would be.
We have to estimate gas usage for new customers until we can get a true picture of their gas usage. This can take several years. Some new customers lie about their usage, falsely saying it is lower than it is. You are probably one of them. To make things fair we ‘weight’ the estimate every new customer gives us to take this into account. Just let the direct debit run and leave it to our experienced team to sort it out. You will be amazed at the payment they think is best for you.

9. I have just fallen on hard times and can’t pay my bill. Have you any help or advice.
Yes we are experiencing more and more of this as energy prices rise, seemingly uncontrollably. You are not alone and we advise all customers in your position to let the bailiffs in without a fight and to seek legal advice.

10. What if I don’t like your price rise.
All you need to do is to end your contract with us if you don’t accept the rise. Our terms and conditions explain the requirements you need to comply with. Compliance with these requirements is almost impossible and makes it a very expensive and lengthy process for you to switch. After you have switched we will continue to bill you. This is for your own protection and to give you time to think. Remember cheapest isn’t always best.

11. I can’t find the definitions of ‘lesser’, ‘4572’ or ‘year’ in the T & C.
You can find them and other important information in, ‘The Hidden, Unwritten and Unpublished T&C’ booklet. This publication is not available on line. It can be obtained upon written request. The address to write to is shown on the back of the booklet.

RM5_2

Thanks for posting excerpts of nPower's reply and your rebuttals. In a nutshell, what nPower are doing is that they use changes in the sculpting to charge more than 4572 primary units over a year. They then argue that each pricing change resets the year and therefore no more than the allowed units were charged over the 'tariff year' which may be shorter. They seem to be ambigious as to which events cause a reset. Originaly we heard it was scultping changes, now it is changes of the prices/kWh. However, the amount charged is always calculated according to the sculpting, the tariff year garbage is only used as an excuse for the overcharging.

Like Cardew, I have difficulty to believe that they would resort to a ridiculous argument as 'our years are only 9 months, hehe', but Direct has it from them on black and white and should send the letter straight to ofgem for evidence.

Such a redefinition of the length of a year would not stand in court even if it was part of the t&c. Equally, they cannot say in the t&c 'what we abbreviate as kWh is actually a horse power hour'.

Their note on the date when sculpting was first introduced is interesting. Anyone with old bills (start and end date, primary units and whether or not there were any secondary units) would be most welcome to post them in this forum so that we can work out what they actually charged.

DirectDebacle

My sentiments entirely. I am half hoping they don't settle with me so I do take them to court. A lot of this would come out and if my local rag picked it up it could snowball to the nationals. I don't understand why no-one with some clout isn't picking this up. Shame Gordon 'Clunking Fist' Brown has just been K.O'd. lol

DirectDebacle

I have typed out the entire letter I received from npower. I omitted names, addresses and tables of percentages. Other than that it is exactly as received.



Following your recent contact into our Customer Service Centre, regarding the accuracy of your gas account, I am writing to clarify the charges and the way we bill our customers.

I can assure you that the method we used to calculate your bill is correct. Npower strives to ensure that the bills are clear and easy to understand for our customers. In this instance, we appreciate that the gas seasonally weighted billing is a somewhat complex issue for some of our customers.

I would like to take this opportunity to explain, in detail, the method used to calculate your gas bills.

We started to seasonally weight higher priced ‘Primary Block’ gas with effect from 4 December 2006 until 30 April 2007 when this was changed to allow the migration of all gas accounts to our best in class billing system.

The first time we introduced the seasonal weighting, between April 2006 and April 2007, the percentage of the annual primary block billed each month was as follows: (There follows the list of 2007/7 percentages previously posted)
From 30 April 2007 this was changed back to a daily usage of 12.52 kWh per day, however, seasonal weighting was reintroduced as of 1 November 2007 with the percentage breakdown as follows: (list of 2007/8 percentages given)
From customer feedback we understand that there has been some queries regarding our higher threshold of 4572 kWh.
When we publish gas charges we state that 4,572 higher-priced ‘Primary Block’ kWh will be applied each year. The year quoted is a ‘tariff year’ that begins from the introduction of any changed charges. When npower change the way customers are charged a new “tariff year” commences from the date it changed.
Npower did change methods of applying higher ‘primary block’ units in April 2007. The very act of changing from one method to another means that you will find that the 4,572 kWh limit was exceeded because using a ‘rolling 12 month type’ calculation would include the winter –weighted half of one tariff year with the first half of the following tariff year.
When this changed in April 2007, we recognised that in the immediately ensuing months a higher number of units would be charged at the primary block rate than would otherwise have been the case and so this was taken into account when setting lower gas charges and higher Monthly Direct Debit Dual Fuel discount in April 2007. The secondary pence/kWh rates we set in April were much lower than they would have been if the normal, seasonally adjusted application of primary block units had continued throughout.
You can be certain that we have acted within our terms and conditions of supply as the change was not an increase in price or a reduction in any discounts. Npower are committed to be competitive within the energy supply market and to provide first class customer service.
I trust my explanation of the way in which we calculate your bill is now clear. Should you require further assistance or wish to discuss this matter further please feel free to contact us on 0800 316 1492 between the hours of 8:00am and 6:00pm, Monday to Friday.

So now you know what I know, including any npower spies monitoring this thread. Make of it what you will.

notbritishgas

Hi DD
Where does the 0800 number in the letter from npower (post185) take you.

The reason is that I smell another scam, I have been waiting for my £80 bonus due on my April electric bill then like you I was going to switch to Atlantic. However no April bill has arrived, instead a letter saying that next bill will be July.
Normal call centre people do not help, so am looking for a customer complaints line, but do not want to go straight in to High level complaints.

Cardew

DD.

I think with that letter you have them 'Bang to Rights' as the police say in the Movies!

They have admitted that they did charge for more than the 4,572 units and, with respect, it is the period from April 2007 to 1 Nov 2007 when sculpting was suspended that caused the problem.

Their defence that their secondary rates were set lower to compensate and they increased the monthly direct debit dual fuel discount(to what? from what?) surely cannot be serious?

It does however explain why they said there were winners and losers. Someone using, say, 7,000kWh could pay for all of them at the primary rate if their consumption fitted the sculpting profile. Someone using, say 50,000kWh would gain - particularly if they were dual fuel and paid by DD.

However what about those who do not pay by DD or are not dual fuel?

The central issue is still that they state 4,572 per year and they breached that condition by charging for more.

DirectDebacle

Takes you to HLCT (Higher Level Complaints Team) Some posts contain other numbers but I don't know which Dept they go to. Just phone a no. and ask if it is HLCT. If they say yes hang up if you don't want to speak to them.

DirectDebacle

Anyone know the definition of a 'rolling type tariff year'. Spot on Cardew.

colonelhall

DirectDebacle
Thank you for your many posts on this matter, The information that you have provided regarding Npower's reply, is very interesting.

Clearly, if a year in 't&c" is not 12 months, then this should be made clear. I cannot think of any kind of contract that would possibly expect one to know that a year is not a normal year.

Clearly, the suspending of sculpting in 2007 is a "hidden charge". They are admitting charging more than 4572, but say that this is made up by giving us a lower basic rate. The end result is that we have all paid more than advertised in the "switch" websites. This must have given them a big advantage over their rivals and smacks of very dodgy practise indeed.

I still await a reply to my own correspondence.